Rubber shoe sole



May 22, .1951 G. v. wA| |.s 2,553,616

RUBBER SHOE SOLE Filed Dec. 26, 1946 INVENTOR.

G15-0R65 lf. WALLS ATTORNEY.

Patented May 22, `1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-,g

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a sole construction for shoes, and has for its principal object the provision of a cushioned sole in which air will be entrapped so as to provide an air cushion for the foot.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of making shoe soles whereby air will be automatically entrapped within the sole during the manufacture thereof.

A further object is to provide a shoe sole which will have non-skid qualities combined with a soft, yielding quality which will enable the sole to conform to the supporting surface without tiring or injuring the foot of the user.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed forsimplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing: l

Fig. 1 is a bottom view, looking upwardly, of the improved cushioned shoe sole;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section therethrough, taken on the line 2 2, Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the heel thereof, taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 1.

The improved sole comprises a iiexible sole plate I cut or stamped to the desired sole outline. The plate IIJ may be formed from any suitable, exible, water-proof, air-tight material. It is preferably formed from a sheet of rubber cord stock consisting of a relatively thin rubber sheet into which reinforcing fabric or cords Il are imbedded.

A molded sole member I2 is cemented to, or vulcanized on, the half-sole portion of the sole plate I0, and a molded heel member I3 is similarly secured to the heel portion of the sole plate IG.

The sole member I2 is molded from tough, flexible rubber, such as automobile tire tread stock. It is molded with a plurality of spacedapart hobs I4 projecting downwardly from the bottom thereof. An identation is formed in the top of the sole member over each of the hobs to form a hollow air chamber I5 therein. The air is sealed in the chambers I5 by the sole plate I0, which is cemented over the entire upper surface of the sole member I2.

The heel member i3 is similarly molded from flexible rubber tread stock and is provided with a plurality of ridged members I6, each of which is hollow throughout its entire length, as shown at Il, so as to form a sealed air chamber when cemented or otherwise sealed to the sole plate I0.

It can be readily seen that the objects of the invention are attained by the above construction. A skid-resisting surface is provided by means of the projecting hobs I4 and the ridges I6. The hobs and ridges, however, are not solid, for each contains a sealed air chamber which provides a cushioning effect and allows the hobs to compress to irregular surfaces without injuring or tiring the feet of the wearer.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A composite tread for footwear comprising a sheet of cord reinforced resilient material and a resilient sole member having a substantially flat base portion associated with the under face of the sheet, and a plurality of frusto-conical hobs extending downwardly from said base portion, each of said hobs having a recess therein extending through said base portion and the upper surface of said base portion being secured to the lower surface of said sheet to form a resilient air cushion above each of said hobs.

2. A composite tread for footwear comprising a sheet of cord-reinforced resilient material having sole and heel portions and an intermediate smooth-surfaced portion interconnecting said sole and heel portions, a resilient sole member having a substantially nat base portion associated with the under face of the sole portion of said sheet, a plurality of frusto-conical hobs extending downwardly from said base portion, each of said hobs having a frusto-conical recess extending through the base portion and into said hob in concentric relation therewith, the upper surface of said base portion being secured to the lower surface of the sole portion of said sheet to form a resilient air cushion above each of said hobs, and a resilient heel member having a substantially flat base portion associated with the under face of the heel portion of said sheet, a

plurality of downwardly tapered ridged members extending from the base portion and arranged in spaced transverse substantial parallelism on said base portion, said ridged members each having a similarly tapered trough-like recessformed therein extending through said base portion into each of said ridged members, the upper surface of the base portion of said resilient heel member being secured to the lower surface of the heel portion of said sheet to form a resilient air cushion above each of said ridged members.

GEORGE V. WALLS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number 4 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Heady June 1'7, 1930 Wilson Aug. 24, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1901 France Jan. 8, 1921 

